Leeds United U18s suffer Sunderland defeat despite Logan White brace

Leeds United Under-18s were left empty-handed after a seven-goal encounter against Sunderland, with Logan White's brace and an early Carrick Njinko strike proving insufficient to earn Rob Etherington's side a result at the Academy of Light.

The young Whites made a promising start in blustery conditions, but Sunderland responded to falling behind and eventually secured all three points after a second-half fightback from Leeds threatened to earn the visitors a share of the spoils.

Njinko almost opened the scoring inside the opening seven minutes, spotting Sunderland goalkeeper Josh Jones off his line and attempting an ambitious effort from inside the opposition half. His strike beat the goalkeeper but drifted narrowly wide.

Leeds soon made their pressure count when a well-timed Jacob Howard tackle allowed the visitors to launch another attack.

A diagonal ball switched play to Silva Mexes on the left, with Louie Philpott overlapping.

Mexes released the full-back, whose delivery into the six-yard box found Njinko perfectly positioned to head home in the 11th minute.

However, Sunderland responded almost immediately as Lewis Campbell was played through one-on-one by Alfie Pollock before finishing beyond Oliver Wood to restore parity.

Sam Alker then delivered a dangerous ball into the penalty area, where Howard rose highest, but the Leeds captain was unable to direct his header on target as the visitors searched for another breakthrough.

The hosts took control shortly before half-time when Campbell was brought down inside the penalty area.

The striker picked himself up and converted from the spot in the 42nd minute before Harvey Thompson volleyed home two minutes later following a cross from the right, leaving Leeds with a two-goal deficit at the interval.

Half-time: Sunderland U18s 3-1 Leeds United U18s

Leeds returned from the break determined to reduce the deficit and almost recreated their opening goal when Louie Whitehead played a superb diagonal pass towards Mexes.

The winger combined with Philpott once again, but Sunderland managed to clear the resulting cross.

The visitors eventually found a route back into the contest through White, who stepped up to a free-kick in the 56th minute and curled a superb right-footed effort over the Sunderland wall and into the top-right corner.

Their hopes of completing the comeback were dealt a blow just a minute later, however, when Pollock converted Oscar Okoro's low cross to restore Sunderland's two-goal advantage.

White continued to threaten and helped drive Leeds forward, beating his marker before delivering into the penalty area, where Alker saw his volley saved by Jones.

With just under 15 minutes remaining, White produced another moment of quality from a free-kick in a similar position to his first goal.

This time, the forward found the far corner, wrong-footing Jones to make it 4-3 and set up a tense finale.

Leeds threw everything forward in search of an equaliser, but their task was complicated by Megson's dismissal, leaving Etherington's side with a difficult challenge in the closing stages.

Despite their determination and White's impressive individual contribution, the young Whites were unable to find a fourth goal before the final whistle, suffering a narrow defeat after an entertaining contest.

Etherington's side will now look to respond next weekend when they return to home action against Derby County in the U18 Premier League North.

Full-time: Sunderland U18s 4-3 Leeds United U18s